In a Sept. 21
letter, the 10 AGs, who signed on to an earlier pro-merger letter in July,
encouraged the FCC and the DoJ to work with AT&T to resolve any differences
and allow the merger to proceed. “We continue to believe that this transaction
is in the best interest of consumers and of economic growth in our states and
in the country at large,” the letter reads. (As Free Press and others have
shown, this merger is anything but consumer-friendly; it’s likely to result in 20,000
new additions to the unemployment line and will destroy
competition in the wireless market.)

The AGs represent Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky,
Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming, and the
men from Michigan and South Dakota are the only ones in the group who have not
benefited from AT&T’s largesse. The other eight have collectively received $28,490
in AT&T contributions, according to data gathered by Follow the Money, a
campaign-finance database created by the nonpartisan National Institute on
Money in State Politics.

This places them in the company of pretty much everyone who
has voiced support for the merger.

The bid paid off. Earlier this month, 15 House Reps signed a
letter urging President Obama to support a settlement that would enable the
merger to move forward; these signers collectively received more than $570,000
in campaign contributions from AT&T.

And last Tuesday, 100 House Republicans signed a similar
letter to Obama; all but one of these lawmakers have received donations
from AT&T employees, for a whopping total of $963,275.

Texas Rep. Pete Olson, one of the signers, received an
additional reward for his loyalty. Last Thursday he was the beneficiary
of the “Telecommunications Industry Lunch,” backed by AT&T, with
suggested contributions of $2,500, $1,000 or $500 going to the Olson for
Congress Committee. Assistant AT&T Vice President J. Barry Hutchison sent
out an email on Olson’s behalf, heralding him as a “leader on the Energy and
Commerce Committee.” (Melissa Kelly, a spokeswoman for Olson, denied that
AT&T had sponsored the luncheon.)

Maybe money can’t buy you love—but it sure goes a long way
toward securing blind devotion.

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